In 2012-13, Larry Sanders looked like one of the NBA’s rising stars. At 25 years old, he averaged 9.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game for the Milwaukee Bucks and led the league in block percentage.
Then his numbers slipped, he got hurt, he repeatedly tested positive for marijuana and he battled with depression and anxiety. In early 2015, he stepped away from the NBA.
Now, 27 months after he last played in the NBA, Sanders is back. The 6-foot-11 center signed Monday with the Cleveland Cavaliers, replacing Andrew Bogut, who broke his leg in his first game with the team and will be waived to clear room on the roster.
Larry Sanders has agreed on a deal to make NBA return with the Cavaliers, w/ likely 2017-18 option date, league sources tell @TheVertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 13, 2017
Sanders will reportedly spend some time with the Canton Charge, the Cavs’ D-League team.
The plan for @l8show_thegoat in Cleveland is to practice w/Cavs & play for Canton D-League team for most of the rest of the regular season.
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) March 13, 2017
Sanders’ return makes for a pretty cool story. He was a truly promising player before his life seemed to spin out of control and he wound up in a hospital that specializes in depression, anxiety and mood disorders.
A 2016 profile of Sanders on VICE Sports portrayed the center as healthier mentally than he was during his NBA career, while rapping, skateboarding and working on a graphic novel.
In that story, Sanders said he did not plan to return to the NBA but expressed his passion for basketball nonetheless.
Sanders refers to himself as retired from the NBA, but there’s no concealing the mirth in his voice whenever the sport—the activity of playing basketball—enters the conversation. And when that happens, retired or not, he speaks in the present tense. If Sanders truly does not love basketball, like some skeptics suggest—well, then, he puts on a very convincing illusion.
“You want to see me create? Watch me play defense,” he said. “Because I’m thrilled by it. I love playing defense, I love watching how guys move and who’s on the cut. I love anticipating blocks. I love contesting shots, altering shots. I love it. I love guarding somebody. I hate if someone scores on me—I hate that! I’m driven by it, man. It fuels me.”
Now Sanders is back, and if things go smoothly he could play a substantial role for Cleveland, which has struggled to replace the injured Kevin Love. If he does, that will be one of the more impressive comebacks we’ve seen.
